


Hearsay

by TwelveUnitsShy



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Coming Out, M/M, Mutual Masturbation, No Sex, Random OCs - Freeform, Romance, Rumors, Sleepovers, Teen Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 22:57:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11390166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwelveUnitsShy/pseuds/TwelveUnitsShy
Summary: There was a rumor going around about Gabriel and of course, his best friend Jack was the last to know.ANNOUNCEMENT: Chapter 3 has been reposted intact.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Admittedly, there are parts in this story that could've been left out, but I left them in anyway.

Jack began having suspicions that something was wrong when Gabriel would be late coming out of the school building. They always walked home together and normally it was Gabriel who had to wait for Jack to catch up. Now he just watched as his dark-skinned friend came marching out murmuring angrily to himself.

"Let's go," Gabriel said harshly as he walked right past Jack.

"Hold on a minute, Gabe. Did something happen?" Jack asked. He had to jog a bit to catch up to him. After his friend remained silent and kept walking, Jack finally spoke again. "Gabe, say something."

"Nothing happened. Let's just go home," Gabriel said.

Well, Jack knew that something had pissed him off. A teacher must have kept him for detention. But if that were the case, that was the shortest detention Jack had ever heard of.

"We've got that test tomorrow. Wanna come to my place and study?" Gabriel asked as if there had been no prior attempts at conversation.

"Yeah, but something's bothering you and I wanna know what it is," Jack insisted.

"Don't be stupid, Jack. I said it was nothing, so let's just leave it at that."

Well, it seemed as though Jack were causing Gabriel to become even more upset by asking him about it. That was the last thing he wanted to do. "Yeah. Alright."

\------------------

They'd stopped at a convenience store for sodas before they quietly made their way to Gabriel's house. No one was at home, as usual. Gabriel's parents worked the late shift and Gabriel often spent his nights at Jack's house. But they would have more quiet studying at Gabriel's house.

"You know, Gabe. This probably wasn't a good idea," Jack began.

Gabriel sighed. "What do you mean?"

"We're studying together, but neither of us is even slightly good at math. It's like a camel trying to teach a tuna how to fly," Jack told him.

The darker teen snorted. "That doesn't even make any sense."

"Yeah. Just like the two of us trying to study math together."

"Well, what were we supposed to do? Drag home one of the nerds or something?"

Jack shrugged. "Maybe. That one girl with the freckles and the huge rack who sits in the back of the classroom coulda helped us out. She's really smart. What's her name again? Zoe?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "It's Sadie. And my parents don't want me to have girls over while they're not here."

Jack grinned and nudged his buddy. "How are they gonna know if they're not here? Come on. You've probably had hundreds of girls over."

"Of course not, idiot. You're always here, remember?"

Jack nodded thoughtfully. "Hey! Then why don't we both invite girls over here?"

"Aren't we getting a little off topic?"

"Not at all. I'm just saying that Sadie could come over and bring one of her friends or something and we can all 'study' together," Jack said, being sure to emphasize the word study.

Jack already knew that Gabriel knew that he wasn't talking about studying at all. "Can we focus a little here? It's already gonna be hard enough to understand this stuff without you thinking with your dick."

The blond couldn't help noticing that Gabriel seemed a little upset. "What's the matter with you? Do you like Sadie or something? You already knew who I was talking about and you knew her name and every—"

Gabriel cut him off with an abrupt, "No."

Jack looked at Gabriel for a long time. He was even crankier than usual. They always joked about everything and Gabriel rarely took him seriously. What was up with him?

He watched as Gabriel opened his math book to the section they were working on in class. So, he relented and joined his friend in an attempt to study.

\------------------

It was a pretty good attempt. The next day, they both received C's for their effort. At least they didn't fail like on the last couple of tests.

As Jack was gathering his books after his last class of the day, he spotted Gabriel hurrying down the hall. This was a good chance for Jack to find out why Gabriel was always late meeting up with him after school.

Jack hoisted his backpack up on his back and trotted after his best friend, making sure not to make too much noise. He watched as Gabriel hurried into the boys' bathroom near their classroom and before Jack could follow him inside, Gabriel came right back out and hurried on down the hall. Thankfully, his dark-skinned friend didn't think to look in his direction.

The blond followed Gabriel on down the hall until he darted into the next restroom. Jack thought that Gabriel might come right back out like last time, so he waited around a bit. But when he didn't come out, Jack slowly opened the door to see Gabriel hurriedly scrubbing the wall.

What in the world was he doing?

The sound of the main door closing obviously startled Gabriel. When Gabriel turned to see who was there, he quickly tried to cover up what he was doing.

"What's going on, Gabe?" Jack asked.

"Don't look," was all Gabriel said.

Jack was completely confused until he saw what Gabriel was trying to cover up. There was a hastily scribbled statement on the wall: Reyes puts the GAY in Gabriel.

The first thing that came to Jack's mind was that his best friend was being bullied. "Who did this?" the blond asked.

"It's nothing," Gabriel told him, still trying to hide what Jack had already seen.

"If someone's bullying you, we should tell someone. A teacher maybe."

"It's nothing. Just...."

"Or I could help you deal with them personally," Jack added, jabbing his fist into his palm for emphasis.

Gabriel looked surprised. "What? No. You can't do that. You'd get in trouble."

"I don't care. You're my best friend. Nobody messes with my friends."

"No, Jack. You have a reputation as a good kid. Don't mess that up," Gabriel told him sadly. He began cleaning the wall again and was surprised when Jack joined him.

"Well, the least I could do is help you."

The two were quiet for a while, but Jack became curious. Not only did he wonder who was saying such things about his best friend, but why?

He looked at Gabriel, who made it a point not to look back at him.

"Does this person write random rumors about you every day? Is that why you're always late meeting me after school?" Jack asked.

Gabriel sighed. "Looks like we're done here. Let's head home. I'm allowed to order pizza."

As soon as Jack heard the word pizza, he lost all focus. "Well let's not wait around this place. Let's go."

\------------------

On their way to Gabriel's house, they spent the whole time disagreeing on what toppings to get on their pizza. They finally settled on pepperoni, onions and mushrooms. The onions were a compromise. Gabriel had wanted olives while Jack had wanted peppers.

As they sat and enjoyed their pizza, Jack frowned as he chewed. "I still can't believe that someone would bully you."

"You know how teenagers are. Just drop it," Gabriel said between bites.

"I just wanna know who it is so I can knock his teeth in one good time."

"Let it go, Jack."

"How long has this been going on?"

Gabriel was quiet for a while. "About a month."

At least he answered that. "So what exactly has he been doing?" Jack went on.

Gabriel glared at him for a while, then sighed and said, "It's like a game to him. A scavenger hunt, I guess. He writes stuff on bathroom walls after school and I 'm supposed to find them. If I don't, they'll be there for everyone to see the next day."

Jack groaned, aggravated. "Doesn't this clown have anything better to do than make up lies about people?"

Gabriel averted his eyes.

\------------------

The next day, the two of them were walking to school behind a group of girls. Those girls were looking back at them and whispering and giggling among themselves.

Jack was feeling pretty confident that he and his buddy were the topic of their conversation. Especially since they kept looking back at them.

"Which one do you like?" Jack whispered. But when he looked at his friend, he didn't seem to be paying attention to what was going on.

"Huh?"

"Those girls," Jack whispered. "Which one would you go for?"

"I don't know. The blond one, I guess."

Jack laughed. "No way. What about the little exotic looking one? I like her way better."

"From what you were saying the other day, I thought you were into girls with freckles," Gabriel said, sounding a little bitter.

"Well, I like to stay open-minded in my tastes."

"Hey, Gabriel. You two are really close, huh?" one of the girls finally said.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Just shut up, Amanda."

The girls went back to giggling with each other and Jack looked confused. "What was that all about?" he asked.

"It's nothing," Gabriel said. "Don't pay attention to them. It's what they want you to do."

Jack chuckled. "Fine. But maybe we should get you that blond's phone number."

Gabriel rolled his eyes yet again.

\------------------

Having a reputation as a 'good kid' had its advantages. Jack left his last class early so he could keep his eyes open for any unusual activity regarding writing on boys' bathroom walls.

He was in luck. Jack spotted a suspicious looking kid rushing down the hall and into the bathroom nearest his last class. Whether or not the kid saw him, he wasn't sure. Nor did he care.

Jack walked into the bathroom and sure enough, the kid was writing something on the wall. 'Gabriel luvs....' and then a horizontal line that could have been the beginning of the letter T.

"Hey!" Jack said, interrupting what the guy was doing. Upon closer inspection, Jack realized that he did recognize the kid. His name was Dustin and he was in Gabriel's last class. "You're the one who's bullying Gabriel?"

"Bullying? Of course not," the one by the name of Dustin said. "There's nothin' wrong with—"

"Hey!" Jack heard Gabriel say behind him.

"I'm glad you're here, Gabe. This has gone on long enough. Let's teach this guy a lesson," Jack said as he rolled up his sleeves. He had to admit, though, that he felt a little bad. This Dustin kid was way shorter and smaller than both he and Gabriel. Why was Gabriel allowing himself to be bullied by this little punk?

"We're not teaching anybody anything," Gabriel said to Jack.

"You're right. This has gone on long enough. I'll put a stop to it," the kid said. "But only if you let him see the inside of your locker, Gabriel."

Jack looked at them both strangely and he noticed that Gabriel's dark skin seemed to become flushed. And now that he thought about it, Jack had never seen the inside of Gabriel's locker. He'd never even been over there.

"Come on, Gabriel. You do this and I won't write on the walls anymore," Dustin told him.

"Fine. It's not really a big deal anyway," Gabriel said.

Jack was completely confused, but he followed the two teens to the lockers on their end of the hall. When Gabriel opened his locker, Jack saw that there were tons of pictures all over the insides of it. And they were all pictures of Jack.

"He's my best friend. Of course I have pictures of him everywhere," Gabriel said quietly.

Jack was flattered, but he also felt bad because he didn't have any pictures of Gabriel in his locker. "Wow. What a friend. Thanks, Gabe."

Dustin looked utterly astounded. "You always were slow on the uptake, huh, Jack?"

"Shut up, Dustin. Don't say that about him. You got what you wanted. Now, don't go around writing weird stuff on the walls anymore," Gabriel said. "Or I might start playing by my own rules. Got it?"

"Alright!" Dustin said. He was about to leave, but as he was passing by, he stood close to Jack and whispered, "The only reason someone keeps that many pictures of a person in their locker is if that person's a boyfriend, girlfriend or crush. Think about it."

With that, the weird kid left and Jack watched as Gabriel hurriedly shut his locker. The darker teen's face had become even more flushed, but he looked relieved. "Glad that's over. I'm gonna go clean that wall and then we can head home."

Of course Jack quietly went along to help Gabriel.

It took Jack a few minutes to put all the pieces together. When he thought about the first message he'd seen—'Reyes puts the GAY in Gabriel'—and the second message he'd seen—'Gabriel luvs', which was a partial message—and all the pictures of him in Gabriel's locker, he couldn't help making the connection.

Jack began feeling heat spread all over his face and up to his ears. "Gabe, can I ask you something?" he asked as they finished cleaning the wall.

"What is it?" Gabriel asked slowly, making sure not to look at his blond friend.

"Do...do you have a crush on me?" Jack asked.

"I don't know what that guy said to you, but are you really gonna believe everything you hear, Jack?" Gabriel asked, still not looking at him.

Jack quickly shook his head and laughed uncomfortably. "No, of course not. Besides, we've still gotta get that blond's phone number for you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems that Jack is the topic of some rumors as well.

Jack was sitting in his last class of the day in a bit of a daze. Yesterday he'd found out that Gabriel kept pictures of him in his locker. And it was suggested that maybe Gabriel had a crush on him. But the dark-skinned teen had dismissed the accusation immediately.

The two had been friends for a long time. Surely if it were even remotely true, Gabriel would have said something by now. His friend wasn't really the type to bite his tongue about anything.

Then again, whenever the subject of girls came up recently, Jack would get this weird vibe from his friend. Like it was something he didn't want to talk about.

Who was he kidding? He hadn't really started putting any of this together until that kid made the suggestion. Jack had to admit that he could be a little "slow on the uptake" as the guy had said but he wasn't a complete numbskull. He'd seen that there was something strange about Gabriel's behavior. He just didn't know what.

As a matter of fact, he still didn't know what because his friend had said that he shouldn't believe everything he hears.

Gabe had even slept over, as usual, and nothing really seemed any different as long as the subject of girls wasn't brought up. But the minute things changed to that topic, Gabriel would try to change the subject or he would give flippant remarks.

For all Jack knew there was just some girl on Gabriel's mind that he was having trouble with.

_You're always here_ , he remembered Gabe saying when he'd brought up the fact that he could have had hundreds of girls over.

But they didn't have every class together, so Gabriel could possibly have a girlfriend that he didn't know about, right? No. No, he couldn't. Gabriel would have told him if he had a girlfriend. They talked about everything....

Or maybe they didn't talk about everything. Gabriel never mentioned that he had pictures of Jack in his locker.

"How did he get all those pictures of me anyway?" Jack wondered out loud as he was putting his things into his backpack.

"You mean Reyes' locker?" some kid who sat behind him asked.

Jack turned to the kid, startled. He hadn't meant to ask that question out loud. "Y-yeah...." How did this guy know about the pictures in Gabriel's locker?

"Everyone's got their own theory about it," the kid said with a grin. "And it looks like mine was right. Reyes is a creep who sneaks snapshots of you without your permission."

"See? I told you they weren't dating," a girl sitting next to Jack said to the girl sitting in front of her.

The other girl giggled. "I'm just gonna ask." She leaned toward Jack and grinned. "Are you and Gabriel dating?"

Jack was overwhelmed by the interest in his relationship with Gabriel. And as he looked around, he was even more overwhelmed by the amount of people who were sticking around after class to listen in.

The blond felt a blush rising to his cheeks so he quickly finished packing his things into his backpack. "Gabe's not a creep," was the only thing he said before he hurried out of the classroom.

\----------------

His friend was waiting for him on the side of the school building where they always met up to walk home together.

Gabriel smirked. "Looks like things are back to normal. Me waiting for you all afternoon."

Jack, however, wasn't amused.

As they began heading home, Gabriel must have noticed how flustered Jack was. "You okay?"

The blond sighed and shook his head. "No, I'm not okay. I just found out why I don't have a girlfriend. Everyone in my last class seems to think I'm dating you. The whole school probably thinks I'm dating you."

The smirk on Gabriel's face disappeared. "Hm...."

"Really? That's all you have to say? 'Hm'?" Jack asked.

"Well, I don't know if this is something we should talk about in public," Gabriel said. "Let's go to my house. We'll talk there."

Jack frowned. There were obviously rumors going around that he had no idea about and Gabriel didn't seem concerned at all.

\----------------

Once the two of them got to Gabriel's house, they put their backpacks down and Gabriel had them sit on the couch.

"A girl straight up asked me today if you and I were dating. Where would she even get an idea like that?" Jack asked.

"You know how people are. If they see two people who get along well and they're together all the time, then they must be dating," Gabriel explained.

Jack frowned. He and Gabriel were practically inseparable. "Why are you so calm about this? When that guy was writing stuff about you on the bathroom walls you did everything you could to keep people from seeing it. Why is it different when people say things like that about me?"

"They're not just saying those things about you. They're saying them about me too. And they've been saying those things for a long time," Gabriel said slowly. "But I knew you hadn't really heard much about any of it. That's why I didn't want those things to be written on the bathroom wall. I didn't want you to see them."

"You didn't want me to see them?"

"Yeah. I don't know. You're kinda weirdly innocent and I wanted to protect you from all that, I guess," Gabriel told him. "Sometimes it's like you're 6 instead of 16."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot," he said sarcastically. "Anyway, I'm a little surprised that you're so calm about all this now. You were practically throwing a tantrum when that guy was putting up graffiti that revolved around you. You don't have to protect me from that kinda thing. I don't care if you're straight or gay."

Gabriel raised his eyebrows. "You don't?"

"Nah. Either way you're the best friend a guy could ask for."

Jack noticed that Gabriel smiled before he looked away. "So are you, Jack. I couldn't ask for a better friend."

"But...," Jack began.

Gabriel looked back at Jack, serious once again. "But what?"

"But I want you to be open and honest with me. If I've been offending you by trying to hook you up with girls, tell me."

The dark-skinned teen laughed out loud.

"And if there's someone you like, tell me."

Gabriel all but snorted.

Jack jabbed Gabriel's shoulder playfully. "I'm being serious!" he half laughed.

"I know. I know. Sorry," Gabriel said, stifling the rest of his chuckles.

"There's something else I want you to tell me too. How did you get all those pictures of me?" Jack asked, still half grinning.

Gabriel took a deep breath to help calm his laughing fit. "The pictures.... You know how I was always sending my mom texts? Sometimes I wasn't sending her texts. Sometimes I was taking pictures."

After thinking back, he realized that Gabriel would text his mother quite often. He nodded and chuckled again. "I see. Well, cut it out. I think you have enough pictures of me to last a lifetime."

\----------------

And after that everything went back to normal. They did a little studying before heading to Jack's house for dinner. But Jack couldn't sleep that night. He lay in his bed thinking about what he and Gabriel had talked about. That was when he realized that nothing had really been settled. Sure, he knew how Gabriel got those pictures of him now, but Gabriel had neither confirmed nor denied the question of his sexuality. And Gabriel had never told him whether or not he liked someone.

But why did he care? He'd already told his dark-skinned friend that it didn't matter if he was gay or straight. So, what did he plan to do with the information? Did he plan to help him find a girlfriend if he was straight? Did he plan to help him find a boyfriend if he was gay?

Jack rolled to the edge of his bed and looked down at the air mattress they'd set up for Gabriel. He seemed to be sleeping quite comfortably and Jack felt silly for contemplating waking him.

Then again it was pretty dark. Jack couldn't really tell if his friend was asleep down there. "Gabe?" he whispered.

There was no sound, no movement.

They hadn't gone to bed that long ago. There was no way his friend was asleep already, right? "Gabe?" he whispered again.

Still nothing.

Jack frowned and stared down at what he could see of Gabriel's face. That guy, Dustin who'd been writing those things about Gabriel on the boys' restroom walls seemed pretty confident about what he'd said: _The only reason someone keeps that many pictures of a person in their locker is if that person's a boyfriend, girlfriend or crush. Think about it._

Well, the blond had thought about it. And he'd thought about the last thing Dustin had written on the wall: 'Gabriel luvs....' and then a horizontal line that could have been the beginning of the letter T. Jack began to wonder if that horizontal line could have been the beginning of the letter J. What if his friend really did have a crush on him? Would Gabriel really tell him? Jack knew that if he himself had a crush on someone, he'd never be able to tell that person.

WAIT A MINUTE!!!! Suddenly it was 'that person' and not 'her'? Jack knew how girl crazy he was. He'd been thinking of asking out that little exotic looking chica from the other day. Or maybe that freckled math wiz Sadie. He was always talking about girls. So, what was the deal with 'that person'?

It must have been out of empathy for Gabriel's situation that he'd left out the use of a gender-specific pronoun.

.....

'Gabriel's situation'? Was there a situation? What if this were all just a bunch of made-up hooey spewed from the overactive imaginations of teenagers?

Jack had to find out. It was going to keep him up all night if he didn't know. "Gabe," he whispered yet again.

Silence.

Jack decided that he'd had enough. He slipped out of his bed and landed on Gabriel's air mattress, causing his friend to nearly be bounced off. That woke him up.

"What the hell, Jack?" Gabriel asked sleepily as he scrambled back to safety.

"Are you gay?" Jack asked without hesitation.

Gabriel looked at the blond for a long time, or at least he tried to look at him in the darkness. "What the hell, Jack?" he repeated.

"Are you gay?" Jack asked again.

"Did you seriously come all the way down here and wake me up to ask something like that?"

"Answer the question."

"Why?"

"Because I wanna know."

"You said it didn't matter."

Gabriel sounded pretty cranky for only 11 PM. "I know I said it didn't matter, but that doesn't mean I don't wanna know. Now tell me," Jack demanded.

"I'm not gay, Jack," Gabriel said.

Jack nodded. "Alright then." He was about to climb back to his own bed when he heard Gabriel say something else.

"I'm bi," the darker teen said quietly.

Jack was quiet for a long time.

"We're still friends, right?" Gabriel asked, sounding more insecure than Jack had ever heard him sound.

"Of course we're still friends, Gabe."

"Okay," Gabriel said. "Because there's a guy I like."

Jack frowned and was glad that it was most likely too dark to see. "Alright then." Once again he was about to climb back into his own bed when he felt a tug on the sleeve of his pajama shirt.

"Mind if we talk about it?" Gabriel asked.

The blond didn't really know if he wanted to talk about it. He knew he'd asked Gabriel about it—woke him up and everything—but he didn't think he was ready to hear about it.

But good friends were supportive, weren't they? Jack decided, after getting comfortable on Gabriel's air mattress, that he should be there for Gabriel. And even though Gabriel had been stubborn and tight-lipped in the light of day, night time seemed to make him open up more. Maybe it was because they couldn't really see each other's faces.

"I really like this guy, but he probably doesn't want anything to do with me," Gabriel said.

Ah, unrequited love. That's why Gabriel had been so cranky lately. Well, crankier than usual.

"I don't know, Gabe. You're a good-looking guy. You're kind of a bad boy. A lot of people find that attractive. You're a good listener. You've got street smarts. And you're actually really smart outside of math class," Jack whispered to him.

Gabriel chuckled quietly. "Math never was my strong suit. Probably never will be."

"You're speaking for the both of us on that," Jack said.

"You really think all those good things about me?"

"Yeah. You're a great guy, Gabe," Jack told him. He felt the mattress shift and it took him a while to realize that Gabriel was moving closer to him.

"Say it again," Gabriel murmured, sounding drowsy again.

Jack looked confused, but Gabriel probably couldn't see it. "You're a great guy."

"No. My name. Say my name again," Gabriel muttered. "It drives me wild every time you...."

His friend had trailed off and the blond imagined that he'd fallen asleep again. It was suddenly extremely hot in that room and Jack wanted to get back into his own bed, but he didn't want to wake Gabriel again.

So Jack tried his best to ignore the weird feeling in his stomach and lay there next to Gabriel until he fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And sometimes rumors turn out to be true.

Jack had been thinking about what Gabriel said to him—or was about to say to him—half the night before he eventually fell asleep on Gabriel's air mattress. Then when it was time for them to get up for school, Gabriel barely said anything to him. And as usual, Gabriel went to his own house to get ready for school.

Of course, they'd walked to school together, but they were both unusually quiet. Even the group of girls who were walking in front of them noticed how quiet they were.

"Uh oh. It looks like the honeymoon's over," one of the girls said as she and her friends looked back at the two of them.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Just shut up, Amanda."

It was the most Jack had heard him say so far. He just watched as the girls went back to talking and giggling with each other.

The blond was feeling twitchy and weird all day. In the classes they had together Jack kept watching Gabriel. Was he expecting his dark-skinned friend to do or say something? He wasn't really sure. However, he did notice that Gabriel was uncharacteristically quiet the whole time. Usually he'd say something to Jack at some point during class, but not today.

In his last class of the day the girl who sat beside Jack leaned close to him. "Are you and Gabriel fighting?"

Jack didn't have the heart to tell her that it was none of her business. "N-no."

"Well, it's just that everyone's been talking about how you two aren't talking. And when you had lunch together you didn't say anything to each other then either," the girl said. "Everyone thinks you two are fighting."

"We're not fighting," Jack said, staring at his backpack. He had no idea that he and Gabriel were such celebrities. And why? Because people thought they were dating each other. The bad part about it all was that Jack was starting to get the impression that people thought it was a good thing.

\-----------------

As the two began walking home, Jack glanced over at Gabriel and cleared his throat. This caused Gabriel to look at him out of the corner of his eye. But the darker teen didn't say anything. It was all up to Jack now.

"Um, people seem to think we're fighting since we haven't been talking to each other today," Jack said quietly.

"Oh?" was all Gabriel said.

"Yeah. Kinda made me wonder why we haven't been talking to each other today. And I think it's because of last night."

Gabriel nodded. "Me too."

Ah. So his friend still wasn't feeling very chatty. Then again, why would he? He'd said something pretty embarrassing last night. "I think we should talk about it."

Gabriel nodded again. "Yeah, but not til we get home, alright, Jack? It's kinda embarrassing to talk about stuff like that out in public."

Finally! A full set of sentences! Jack sighed. "Alright."

\-----------------

The two walked home surrounded by an uncomfortable silence. Jack wished that he could talk about something that would help pass the time, but he really just kept thinking about what Gabriel said. Or rather what he'd half said.

"No. My name. Say my name again," Gabriel had muttered last night. "It drives me wild every time you...."

And every time Jack thought about it, he'd get this weird feeling in his gut. He wasn't entirely sure what that feeling was, but he kind of liked it. That was really why he kept thinking about it throughout the day.

"I asked my mom if I could spend the whole weekend at your place, but she said no. I don't really see what the big deal is. I'm there Monday through Friday. Two more days couldn't hurt," Gabriel said out of nowhere.

"Well, I'm sure it's just because your parents want to see you at some point. They only see you two days out of the week as it is," Jack told him.

Gabriel nodded. "Hey. I wonder if they'd let you stay at our house this weekend."

Jack saw Gabriel every day of the week. They even spent time together on weekends sometimes. He didn't mind though. He enjoyed being with Gabriel. "I'm sure my parents would be glad to get rid of me for a change."

They didn't really have to worry about it tonight anyway. It was Friday and they would be spending the night at Jack's house.

The blond was a bit surprised, however. After the night they'd had last night, he was sure that Gabriel wouldn't want to spend the night with him anymore. Yet Gabriel was requesting to spend even more nights with him.

"By the way, last night was...different," Jack said.

Gabriel looked a little nervous. "Yeah. Yeah, it was. You slept on my air mattress with me."

Jack watched as the darker teen looked away bashfully. He never expected Gabriel to ever really be shy. It wasn't in his nature. But seeing him like this was actually pretty...cute? Jack could feel his face warming and he was glad that his friend wasn't looking at him.

"And even after you heard that I was bi," Gabriel went on.

So Gabriel did remember their conversation. Jack had been under the impression that since Gabriel had been half asleep at the time, he had no memory of what was said last night.

"And even after you said that when I say your name it drives you wild," Jack murmured.

Jack had never seen someone with such dark skin turn such a lovely shade of red. "I really did say that out loud last night?" Gabriel asked.

The blond nodded.

"Man, I was hoping I'd dreamt that part," Gabriel murmured. "And even after all that you still slept with me? I mean, you've never slept in the same bed with me before. And then you picked a day when you found out I was bi to do it. It just made me think...."

What exactly was his friend trying to say? Jack had only slept on his air mattress with him because he didn't want to wake him again. It wasn't like he was trying to get cozy with Gabriel once he found out that he liked guys.

"W-w-what did it make you think?" Jack asked nervously.

Gabriel looked at him with an expression somewhere between disbelief and fright. "Nothing," he said a little too quickly. "Um, I hope your mom made mac and cheese today."

It took a while for Jack's brain to catch back up to what Gabriel was saying. "Y-yeah. She makes it every Friday. You know that." He gave a nervous chuckle. "Come on. I'm starving."

\-----------------

After a quiet dinner, the two quietly went about playing video games. It was their usual Friday night ritual, after all. But Jack was distracted. Gabriel was implying something before they came to Jack's house. And it sounded like he was implying that maybe Jack wanted to sleep with him because he'd found out that Gabriel was bi and that it 'drove him wild' when Jack said his name. And THAT implied that maybe Jack liked that Gabriel was bi and that it 'drove him wild' when Jack said his name.

Well, the blond did kind of like thinking about the fact that it drove Gabriel wild when he said his name. It gave Jack this funny feeling in the pit of his stomach that he wanted to feel over and over again, which was why he kept thinking about it earlier that day. But that hadn't been the reason he slept with him on his air mattress.

"Jack, what are you doing? We're getting overrun because you're not shooting," Gabriel said.

"Sorry!" Jack nearly shouted.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing. Let's play." Jack took a sip of his soda to help get his head back in the game.

\-----------------

Jack watched as Gabriel turned out the light and they both prepared for a good night's sleep.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?" the blond asked.

"You slept in my bed last night. Can I sleep in your bed tonight?"

Jack thought about it for a long time. He thought about the fact that Gabriel liked guys and he thought about the fact that Gabriel liked when he said his name. And he thought about what everyone kept saying about them. And he thought about all the pictures of him that were in Gabriel's locker. And he thought about the fact that Gabriel was bi and that there was a guy that he liked. And he kept coming to the same conclusion—Gabriel liked him.

So, should he really let a guy who's admitted that he was bi and who might actually like him sleep in the same bed with him?

"Jack? Are you asleep?"

Well, they'd slept in the same bed before, so what harm could it really do?

"No, I'm not asleep," Jack finally said. "Come on up."

"Thanks," Gabriel said, sounding pretty happy about it. The darker teen climbed into Jack's bed and sighed. "Goodnight."

"G'night...."

Jack knew that if he somehow found himself in bed with a girl he liked that he wouldn't be thinking about sleeping. He was a healthy young man, after all. He had urges and he would want to do something about those urges. He'd at least want to touch her.

So, if Gabriel really did like him, wouldn't he want to do something about his urges?

"Gabe?"

"Yeah?" his dark-skinned friend murmured.

"You said there's a guy you really like, right?"

"Yeah."

Jack wasn't really sure what to say after that. He wanted to ask if it was him. He wanted to ask what Gabriel would want to do if he were in bed with the guy he liked.

"Have you ever dated a guy before?" the blond finally asked.

Gabriel laughed. "I haven't dated anyone before, Jack. You know that. I'm always with you. Just like how you've never dated anyone before because you're always with me."

Jack chuckled. "I guess you're right. It didn't really make sense for me to ask that."

"What made you ask?" Gabriel questioned.

"I don't know. I was just thinking that if I were in bed with a girl I really liked, I'd wanna...," Jack began. He cleared his throat. "I guess I'd wanna touch her or something."

"And what made you think about that?" Gabriel asked quietly.

Jack blushed and thanked the darkness that Gabriel couldn't see his face. "Well, aren't you in bed with the guy you really like?"

There was a long silence before Gabriel finally muttered, "Yeah."

He admitted it! He likes me! Jack thought.

"But," Gabriel went on, "just because I like a guy doesn't mean that guy would want me to touch him. So, even if I wanted to do it, I have to respect what he wants or doesn't want."

Jack frowned. "But how would you know he doesn't want you to touch him if you don't at least try?"

The blond had to wonder what he was doing. Was he inviting Gabriel to touch him? And if so, why? He wasn't bi. Or at least he didn't think he was. Then again, considering how much Jack had been thinking about the fact that it drove Gabriel wild when he said his name, maybe he was.

"Does he want me to try?" Gabriel asked.

This was silly. They were both beating around the bush like a couple of middle schoolers. They were in high school. Plenty of folks their age were sexually active and mature about it.

"I mean, what if I try and he doesn't like it. Then he'll just go on about his business and I'll be devastated," Gabriel said.

Jack sighed. "I think you should try."

There was another long silence between them, but Gabriel's hand slowly found its way to Jack's forearm and rubbed up and down it. "Is that okay?"

They'd touched each other before. Plenty of times, as a matter of fact. But for some reason this felt different. Like he was being touched for the first time. Jack closed his eyes and nodded. "Yeah."

Gabriel's hand slowly moved to Jack's upper arm. "How about this?"

"Yeah," was all Jack could say. He felt Gabriel's hand move down to his waist and something happened. That feeling he'd been having all day when he thought about the fact that it drove Gabriel wild when he said his name came back. Only this time it was stronger. Before Gabriel could even say anything, Jack murmured, "Yeah."

Gabriel quickly removed his hand and took a deep breath. "Wow. That was— I think we should stop."

Now Jack knew what THAT feeling was. He was becoming aroused. And the only reason he knew what it was this time was because he could feel himself becoming rigid down there.

"Um," Jack began. "I think it would only be fair if I get to touch you too."

Gabriel shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Jack didn't listen to him. He put a hand on Gabriel's chest and he heard his dark-skinned friend whimper quietly. That rigidity Jack had felt in his crotch became even more strained, but he didn't let that stop him from moving his hand down to Gabriel's stomach.

"Jack," Gabriel moaned.

If Gabriel felt the way Jack was feeling now, then it was no wonder it drove Gabriel wild when Jack said his name. Jack's free hand wriggled its way inside his own pajama pants and he gave his stiffness a light squeeze. "You're right. I think we should stop," Jack muttered. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom, I think."

"No. Do it here. We'll both do it here," Gabriel whispered.

Jack could practically feel that Gabriel was reaching inside his own pajama pants. And before he even knew what was happening they were both breathing heavily and thrusting into their own hands.

"Jack," Gabriel gasped as he began to spasm uncontrollably.

Jack had to bite his lower lip to keep from crying out as he came. His underwear and pajama pants were a mess, but he didn't care.

They both took a few minutes to regain some semblance of calm before Jack started chuckling quietly.

"What?" Gabriel asked warily.

"That was a lot more exciting than doing it alone," Jack said.

Gabriel did his best to stifle a laugh.

Jack sighed and thought for a moment. "So.... Does this mean we're dating?"

"I don't know. What do you think?"

"I think we should go out tomorrow."


End file.
